Bonnie Charlie

Scottish Poem By Lady Nairne

Bonnie Charlie, also commonly known as Will Ye No Come Back Again?, is a Scots poem written by Perthshire-born Lady Nairne (1766-1845), a song writer and collector of Scottish songs, set to a traditional Scottish folk tune.

As in several of the author's poems its theme is the aftermath of the Jacobite Rising of 1745, which ended at the Battle of Culloden.

Lady Nairne came from a Jacobite family, and Prince Charles had stopped to dine at Nairne House on 4 September 1745, during the march to Edinburgh. Her father was exiled the year after, but the family hoarded a number of objects supposedly given to him by Prince Charles.

The song, especially its melody, is widely and traditionally used as a song of farewell - often in association with Auld Lang Syne, and generally with no particular Jacobite or other political intent.